I'm about to do a v8 conversion to my car, because the engine apparently lost compression. Does anyone have any advice or recommendations??? I am a cheap college student, and it seems to be the best way to make my car fast w/out spending a lot of money.

-jeff

 

hit the search button...

 

http://www.torquecentral.com/forumdi...php?forumid=11
search that forum.
don't ask that question here!!!!
~matt

 

*helps zip up the flame suit*

 

For some reason I think it's ok for n/a's to undergo the v8 conversion, but I'm a little sad when I hear of a t2 undergoing it Heh, then again off idle torque would be a sweet thing...

 

i'm liking the torque, and i got the car for almost nothing. I have a free tranny, an engine for 400 and everything i need except the mounting brackets. Is Grannysspeedshop.com the only place to get them???

and hell yeah, the torque is sweet.

-jeff

 

I am not gunna flame anyone here but I think before you choose to do a v8 conversion you should SERIOUSLY think about rebuilding your engine... if you do it yourself you can save some money.. and keep that sweet precious rotary engine under the hood....

Anyway Good luck with whatever you choose to do!

Chris

PS: If you wanna sell your T-II lettme know! hehe

 

Here we go again...

 

yes, grannyspeedshop should be the place for all ur conversion needs

check your pm's

-Jacob

 

wow, havent i seen this thread like 100 times, o well, i guess it's better then the "my cars flooding what can i do???" thread, but sereously, i guess the v8 swap is ok for going in a straight line but nothing else, if the handeling of a car doesn;t matter to you(which is one of the things fc's are praised for) then i guess it's ok but don't expect to take a v8 fc to auto x and make some half way decent times....

on a personal note, please don't degrate the name of the rx-7 by putting some "pis-on" engine in it, if you do please take the rx7 tag off, you car won't deserve to wear it any more...


sorry about that, heres a chicken

 

Oh, there goes my ulcer.....

 

I think you should go with the rebuild. it is more sensible in my oppinion. I don't think it costs that much to just buy a kit with everything you need. I believe I saw some on ebay for like $6-700 not that bad IMO some man hours and bam you got a rebuild. Plus you dont have to swap the tranny buy all the V8 stuff and such. I mean you still have to buy all the accesories for the V8 as well right?

I think the guy is right that if you put a piston engine in an RX-7 you should take the tag off because it is not a Rotary(R) experimental(X) 7 anymore

 

Rebuild:
13B - 1000+/-
LT1 - 250 +/-

Reliability:
13B - one good ping and it's history
LT1 - very good

Torque:
13B - Very little
LT1 - more than enough

Weight:
TII - 2800 +/-
LT1 - 2900+/- depending on how it is done

Maintenance:
13B - expensive
LT1 - cheap

Resale:
13B - depending on year and condition 3-5K
LT1 - 5-7K

Enjoyment:
13B - Sitting at home broke down
Lt1 - Cruising around town

***puts on heavy duty flame suit***

 

Joe Zoom

I think you are right about most of the reliability stuff but I have only been stranded twice since I got my car. The fact that you put an LT1 won't make the car worth more I think it will make it worth less.

 

Rebuild:
13B - 1000+/-
LT1 - 250 +/-

OK 13b 1000
LTi 250? where in the world can you get a working engine V8 or otherwise that weighs close to the 13b for 250 bucks. I want to know give us links and all that good stuff. plus you still need a tranny and all the accesories I think that will tack on a bit more $$$ unless you really go the hook up and cand get all that and what ever I am missing for under a G. Get a template and street port the 13b and that will give it more power without the hassel of a swap.

 

I think that was his cost estimate to rebuild it at home.
He was projecting comparative costs of the car, in the future,
It could be done.
I think $500 would be more realistic.
Still cheaper than the rotary.

 

I'm not Mr. Anti-V8 swap, I think for some people it's the way to go, but that comparison is somewhat misleading. Unmodified you're not going around pinging or having reliability problems with a 13BT. (modified, contrary to popular belief there are people who are running around long after running the engine like a popcorn popper) Maintanance, you have to change the oil more often and be more proactive, not a big deal. If the owner of a LT1 was smart they'd do the same. Granted if you have a higher millage, older engine more stuff is going to happen, with a 13BT or LT1. Cameros aren't known as reliable vehicles either. If I recall consumers reports always ranked them the lowest possible score of 1/5. Back when they ranked FCs in their listing they ranked them quiet favorably (I *think* 4/5).

 

Ok, let me clarify a little bit...

Rebuild:
13B - 1000+/-
LT1 - 250 +/-
Assuming you already have the engine core and it is rebuildable...i.e, rebuilding a 13B with a housing/rotor trashed will cost more. And yes I was going the cheap route for the LT1 but there IS no cheap route for a 13B.
I just purchased a 95 LT1/Auto combo for $1250. Add another $750 for misc (brackets, exhaust etc) and I will have a "better" running car than I had before and for around the same price.

Reliability:
13B - one good ping and it's history
LT1 - very good
I have had a total of 2 first gens and 5 second gens and non except one have had good reliability and actually still runs. All have had the "infamous" apex failure. I have run countless piston engines and have not had one "blow" on me (knock on wood) All the cars I run have regular maintenance, oil changes, spark plugs replaced etc. I remember once getting bad gas and having really bad detonation in a 4-cyl Datsun truck. I drained the gas and all was well. Had this been a rotary, there would not have been anything left.

Torque:
13B - Very little
LT1 - more than enough
This should be self-explanatory


Weight:
TII - 2800 +/-
LT1 - 2900+/- depending on how it is done
I did say it weighed more than a regular 13B, however take into account a TII and you come pretty close to even-up and use a LS1 and you can even be lighter. Yes, this includes the tranny (auto or manual)


Maintenance:
13B - expensive
LT1 - cheap
Let's just consider the spark plugs $5-25 a piece, every 10-20K


Resale:
13B - depending on year and condition 3-5K
LT1 - 5-7K
this would really depend on the market you are trying to sell to, but anybody knows that a TII with 100K+ is going to need a motor soon and it is not going to be cheap. I myself would love to have a good condition TII and have thought more than once about buying one, but the thought of the engine popping or the high $$ maintenance has driven me away.

Enjoyment:
13B - Sitting at home broke down
Lt1 - Cruising around town
Just do me a comparison...how many good running, reliable 13B's do you find compared to Lt1's. I think that you will find your answer.

I love the styling of the 2gen cars and I am not stating these facts to sway anyone to a V8 but I want to be able to drive one without putting a lot $$ into it and then getting a "bad" tank of gas, carbon buildup etc. and it go "Pop".

***puts on an even heavier flame suit***

 

Ok, let me clarify a little bit...

Rebuild:
13B - 1000+/-
LT1 - 250 +/-
Assuming you already have the engine core and it is rebuildable...i.e, rebuilding a 13B with a housing/rotor trashed will cost more. And yes I was going the cheap route for the LT1 but there IS no cheap route for a 13B.
I just purchased a 95 LT1/Auto combo for $1250. Add another $750 for misc (brackets, exhaust etc) and I will have a "better" running car than I had before and for around the same price.

Reliability:
13B - one good ping and it's history
LT1 - very good
I have had a total of 2 first gens and 5 second gens and non except one have had good reliability and actually still runs. All have had the "infamous" apex failure. I have run countless piston engines and have not had one "blow" on me (knock on wood) All the cars I run have regular maintenance, oil changes, spark plugs replaced etc. I remember once getting bad gas and having really bad detonation in a 4-cyl Datsun truck. I drained the gas and all was well. Had this been a rotary, there would not have been anything left.

Torque:
13B - Very little
LT1 - more than enough
This should be self-explanatory


Weight:
TII - 2800 +/-
LT1 - 2900+/- depending on how it is done
I did say it weighed more than a regular 13B, however take into account a TII and you come pretty close to even-up and use a LS1 and you can even be lighter. Yes, this includes the tranny (auto or manual)


Maintenance:
13B - expensive
LT1 - cheap
Let's just consider the spark plugs $5-25 a piece, every 10-20K


Resale:
13B - depending on year and condition 3-5K
LT1 - 5-7K
this would really depend on the market you are trying to sell to, but anybody knows that a TII with 100K+ is going to need a motor soon and it is not going to be cheap. I myself would love to have a good condition TII and have thought more than once about buying one, but the thought of the engine popping or the high $$ maintenance has driven me away.

Enjoyment:
13B - Sitting at home broke down
Lt1 - Cruising around town
Just do me a comparison...how many good running, reliable 13B's do you find compared to Lt1's. I think that you will find your answer.

I love the styling of the 2gen cars and I am not stating these facts to sway anyone to a V8 but I want to be able to drive one without putting a lot $$ into it and then getting a "bad" tank of gas, carbon buildup etc. and it go "Pop".

***puts on an even heavier flame suit***

ok let me begin once again. but before I start I do not think I am flamming I am just trying to do this as calmly as possible so please no fightin ok.

The first part assumes you have an engine core(which you have) but most do not. You said that the LT1 cost 1250 if the motor is blown then you must rebuild it that will cost you no? 750 for the misc. stuff sounds right to me.

enjoyment: you asked how many rotarys are in good running condition compared to LT1's well just think about how many RX-7's compared to LT1's it is basicaly proportional IMO

Cost to repair $5-25 per plug ok but if you do not like the maintenance costs you should not be in the high performance thing to begin with "no $$ no go"

I think maybe you just have too many RX-7's why don't you sell some damit stop hoging them all. haha lol
In the end it is you car and do what you will but in my oppinion don't do it.

lastly buying a junked lt1 swapping everything and all the time it takes to do this would be too much of a hassel for me I would rather take the small pains of fixing things on my 15yr old car that would have broken on any other car too.

 

There's no need for flame suits, no one is being a twit and you're just giving your opinion/experience.

My questions would be what were the circumstance of the rotary problems. Especially N/As, I find it wierd that you've had such poor experiences. High millage, etc.? A lot of people like to start with a dead motor and put in a good motor (or rebuilt). If all rotaries were as bad as your experiences, there would be no one left here and the FB wouldn't have been successfull enough to justify the FC. I think few would have a problem telling others that a n/a rotary in good shape and maintained, will outlast your typical LT1. Yes if poorly cared for by a previous owner, you'll probably find a lot of dead n/a 13Bs. I don't think the unmodified 13BT is particularly unreliable either, but the n/as are the mantle of reliability.

Easy reliability example: Mr. Cake had 260k+ KMs on his n/a /w 9.4:1 compression ratio. Turbocharged it. Didn't tune it properly and @ 10PSI it started pinging. (I think he ran into detonation another time too) Tuned it better and the car continued to operate just fine. Weak engine? I would be impressed by any engine, but in particular because of the "1 ping" apex seals. He also insists on running 91 octane Canadian Tire gas (no name) and thier oil filter that's rated to filter 92% of particles.
Again, I'm not doubting that your experiences happened, I'm just giving the flip side of things.

What is this expensive motor maintanance that rotaries required?

The top end L98 V8 in the '92 Camaro had 245hp. It's not that far off from a S5 TII @ 200hp. Personally I think you're understating the costs a bit (not that I'm being one of the rotary jerks who say it costs $7k to do the swap). Torque is nice, but so is power band and high revs. I don't really want to debate this last paragraph, I'm just throwing it in to even out the post.

 

I would sell the TII and get a N/A with the 4 piston brakes up front. I am all for a V8 swap but the TII is a car that I think should remain turbo rotary. Im not telling you that I don't condone the swap, but I really think that TIIs are unique and we should try to keep as many good running examples of them on the road as possible.. I personally could care less about N/As, but thats just me. Its your choice.. If its what you want than by all means do it, and enjoy the fruits of your labor.

 

i'm going to keep the all of the tii parts. so i can go back to stock, as much as possible... I know this goes against all logic, but the tii has a better rear end, and the gearing will give incredible acceleration to the car.

-jeff

 

i forgot to add, i'm not using a lt1. I'm going to use a 307, bored out to 311. The engine i actually got for free w/48,000 miles on it. Eventually i want to drop in a 350 zz4 or a 327. The 327 would be ideal, because it revs higher than the 350, and it has slightly less torque. (i actually have to grip the street, instead of just burning my tires) This free engine, does not need a rebuild, so it cuts my costs nicely.

just updating everyone.

-jeff

 

Its not a BOP 307 is it?

 

hey, dj blue..im in the middle of my own v8 conversion to a 5.0 then turbo it..so if you would need a little help im around, www.geocities.com/getcrazykid